Chapter 98: Chapter 98

Alex watched Lance depart with a mix of pride, nostalgia, and sadness. He only hoped his own eventual retirement was as epic and legendary as that. Rodger Parsons' voice echoed once more through the stadium. "Ladies annnd gentlemen! Our next and final match for today will be Alexander Redwood versus Gary Oak! The favored relatives of two respected and now-passed Professors will be clashing right here for a spot among the Superior Sixteen! The match will begin in ten minutes. Fans are advised to use the numerous bathroom and food facilities in that time." He then devolved into a scripted repetition of the day's sponsors, at which point, Alex lost interest.

He stood from the absurdly large, and comfy chair he could get used to sitting in, stretched his stupidly long limbs, and smirked at the rest of the people in the box seats. All eyes had shifted to him. He said nothing though, simply winked at Jess, and turned with a flourish of his cape, as his floating Pokéballs zipped back onto the clips beneath it. "Good luck!" Hilbert shouted, as he exited, and Alex tossed him a nonchalant two fingered wave as he descended to the red side of the stadium. Gary would be coming from the green. As he walked, he manifested a new clone, who then Teleported to Alola. If the last match had taught him anything, it was that he had vastly undervalued Z-Moves, and not having them, especially against Ash Ketchum, was as good as forfeiting. Because they weren't technically classified as Pokémon power ups, but move power ups, they could be used in conjunction with Mega Evolution, and potentially Dynamaxing and Terastallization as well. The cost being, of course, rapidly fatiguing his Pokémon, which was a dangerous thing to do in battles this high level. Even a single Pokémon lead could be the difference between a win and a loss.

As he entered the red section's locker room, Alex saw the panel of 'expert' talking heads was already jabbering about the last match. "...see TWO double Knockouts in the same Match! Only at the World Tournament!"

"That's right, folks." Gabby continued, speaking after Ty, and whatever hyped, goofy statement he'd just made, "We're in for some top tier Battles in the next three days, but I'd rather talk about the one we'll be watching in…four minutes and… twenty seconds. Huh." Gabby finished, smirking in disbelief as she checked that that had indeed been the remaining time, right as she'd looked.

Ari jumped in first. "Gary Oak is a renowned Trainer, considered second only to Red, Hibiki, and Champion Silver, all of whom we'll also be seeing in this Tournament. That said…I think Redwood is going to roll him over, and toss his flattened team aside." That statement elicited different reactions from the other talking heads, and Alex watched, deeply amused. Rachel nodded in quiet agreement, Gabby tilted her head, as if wondering if he really could, while Ty just rolled his eyes.

It was Ty who spoke next, "Gary Oak is strong enough to rival Ash Ketchum. Look, I know you guys are fans of Redwood, and yes, feeding the world is objectively, and morally a good thing, especially for free, but we're not talking about morals and attitudes! We're talking about Battles, and stats. And the numbers just aren't that convincing, compared to Professor Oak's." Alex smirked. Ty's Ash fanboyism was peaking through. The other talking heads started defending his record, recounting his more epic battles, but Alex's mental gears were already turning.

He felt a rumble from under his cloak, as his team reacted to the words as well. Especially some of their newer members. They were burning to prove themselves. "You know…" He said quietly, looking down at his Dex's display of the ten Pokémon Gary had listed as registered, despite famously owning the entirety of the Kanto and Johto region's local species, "We have…pretty much every species Gary does on this team of ours…" His smirk widened. "What if we mirrored him…"

That sent another rumble through his team's mental web. Arthur chimed in first. "Wouldn't that be…kind of disrespectful to the man who gave you Saur? And helped you on Victory Road? And trained with us in the Swamp? If you match him 'mon for 'mon…it could come off like you're saying that you're just better…"

Alex pondered for a moment. "Maybe, potentially…but if we frame it right…we could say we're proving how far we've come, since the Trainer Exam. And it wouldn't be untrue. I'll face his Charizard with Saur- calm down Blaze, you'll have plenty of Battles against other Charizard, and besides, you already beat this one before. Anyway, Blast can take his Blastoise, and so on…Tyranus isn't ready yet so…maybe Cenomons takes that Tyranitar… And as for Hatterene…hmm. A Psychic Fairy, ehh?" His smirk became a grin. "Hey Revan, how do you feel about making your debut? A Hatterene could be a tough opponent."

Alex chuckled, as he felt the fiery ghost's ball burn with anticipation. "Alright then, aside from three matchups, and barring any catastrophic failures that cost us the Match…we'll mirror Gary Oak, and show him Exactly how far we've come."

"From the Red corner…the man who fed the entire Human Race for free, reigning Champion of the Victory League, Tamer of the Original Dragon, and Dragon Emperor of our Empire, ladies and gentlemen, ranked number nine in the world, it's Alexander Redwooood!" Up atop the box seats, Temere and Kurchak began belting out the theme to Rivers In the Desert as Alex approached his Trainer box with ten Pokéballs arrayed behind him in a slowly rotating vertical circle.

Rodger Parson's smooth baritone echoed throughout the World Tournament building once again, and fans rushed to get to their seats, though even in the lines, the stadium had been designed so that people who wanted food, swag, or just happened to be female and needed to use the bathroom, could all enjoy the match while waiting in ridiculously long lines.

"Annnd from the Green corner, grandson of the legendary Samuel Oak, he's followed in, and some say surpassed him with his own accomplishments! From rising to a brief stint as the Indigo League Champion to tracking Mew and Taming Regidrago, he's gained Badges and powerful Pokémon partners from multiple Regions, and has participated in more Pokémon League tournaments than most Trainers of his generation! Give it up for Gary Oak!"

It was hard to tell which man was being cheered for louder, and it seemed that their fans were pretty intermixed in the crowd. The atmosphere was electric, already humming after the intensity of the first battle, with a crowd this size this warmed up, their favor, or disfavor, could potentially start influencing the Pokémon battling before them.

Gary smirked across the field at Alex casually tossing a ball that had a ninety five percent chance of being his Pidgeot. "Look. At. You. All grown up and still rising." He leveled the ball at Alex. "I expect to see first hand just how far you've come!" With that, he threw his Pidgeot, and its cry was barely audible over the roar of the stadium.

Alex let them cheer, and then returned the banter as moments passed. One ball in particular floated forward, and since he'd made it match Aero's colors, Gary's brow furrowed.

"That…is exactly my intention, Professor. I want to, genuinely, thank you for starting me on this path. You didn't have to. You could've stopped me due to that BS diagnosis from Doctor Frank Ein. But you didn't."

Gary chuckled. "Of course I ignored it. Ein was a quack." The crowd laughed at his response, while Alex summoned his own Pidgeot. A murmur went through the stands. Nobody had really known he had a Pidgeot. Aero stood proudly, having hit the upper nineties of his power, the only thing that could propel him further at this point, was a contest . Unlike his opponent, he didn't shriek, rather he stood perfectly still, taking in as much detail about his opponent as he could, with his focused stare.

Alex felt a little bad for those eager fans of his bearing gold and black Luxray signs. His fans, and opponents, had caught on by now that he preferred type advantage as often as possible. That wasn't the case this time. "Aero!" He shouted with intent, cutting through the noise, "Mega Evolve!" From the dragonbone plates protecting his back, flying energy met Aero's Sky Plate shard, catapulting his Pidgeot to his ultimate form, with the hairdo to match.

Air rolled across the battlefield as Aero flapped once and began hovering effortlessly in the air, though it only lightly ruffled the feathers of the much older and larger Pidgeot across the field. Its eyes narrowed dangerously at Aero, and Alex shouted as he realized just how strong it was. "Tailwind! Now!"

The opposing Pidgeot squawked at his Trainer, and Gary responded with a Mega Evolution of his own, at which point, the two opposing Pidgeot faced off against each other. "Every Move you two use is going to hit." Alex murmured quietly to Aero. "The Tailwind is ours. Sunny Day!"

Gary smirked. "Not smart, wasting a turn in a contest ! Hurricane!"

Aero fired a ball of fire above the massive field, but it was quickly obscured by the visible cyclone of wind generated by their opponent. Alex smirked, speaking at a room level volume, under the roar of the sudden cyclone. Aero would hear him, and that was all that mattered. "Ride the Hurricane. Then bring down the Aerial Flames." Alex murmured, and despite the pain he took from the powerful winds, Aero made them his own and ascended high above the field, higher than where his Sunny Day was floating.

Then, came the Aerial Aces into the Sunny Day, combining into a move reminiscent of a fire typed Air Slash. Each one homed in on the opposing Mega Pidgeot with more damage than the Hurricane had done. Aero didn't stop striking the Sunny Day, but Gary knew he needed to counter, hard.

"Pidgeot! Use Brave Bird!"

Gary's Pidgeot started shining bright blue as it charged through the fire attacks and grew exponentially in power and size, but Alex countered with the same move. The sky above the field exploded with energy, but Aero arced quickly out of it, only slightly damaged. He'd been practicing firing his Brave Bird at close range, to attempt to mitigate recoil damage, and it seemed to have worked, leaving his opponent to take the brunt of both attacks.

"Don't let up!" Alex ordered, "Steel Wing!" Aero responded immediately, hammering his stunned opponent not with strikes from speeding by, but with a relentless assault that kept him almost stationary to deliver them. Gary's Pidgeot struggled to stay conscious after the barrage, but Aero ended it with an Aerial Ace before it could launch another Hurricane. Gary recalled his partner before he hit the ground, murmured his thanks, and then shook his head.

"Alright then. We're not warming up at all I see. Tyranitar!"

Hearing that, Aero dropped the Mega Form, and Alex recalled him. "Cenomons." He said quietly, and yet despite the loud ambient volume of the stadium, everyone heard him. Cheers erupted, as the titans of steel and stone took the field.

Mr. Parsons was justifiably surprised, as he narrated. "An impressive display of aerial Battling! It seems Champion Redwood is matching the Professor 'mon for 'mon! He may not have a Tyranitar it seems, but he's still chosen a natural rival of Tyranitar, and both of them have Type advantage! It seems the Professor isn't taking chances with the opening Move! Hold onto your seats folks, it's an Earthquake!"

Sure enough, the field under Gary's Tyranitar rippled, as Cenomons finished mega evolving. With a snort of amusement, he flattened the opposing Earthquake with a single stomp. Irritated, this made the Tyranitar pour more power into the move, but the field remained stubbornly un-shattered.

"Ceno." Alex said calmly. "Show the Professor why using that Move on Us is a bad idea…"

A smirk appeared on the face of the steel triceratops, and he raised then lowered his other front foot. Suddenly, the field exploded in a collision of held back earth bending energy, versus a fresh wave of it from a higher level source. To his credit though, Tyranitar didn't let the Earthquake near him, either. A few minor tremors caused equally minor damage.

"You're going to have to get in close. Fighting Moves are the key." Alex said, as the enraged Tyranitar roared out a challenge and began shooting sand from within his body with his ability. Even with low visibility, Alex saw Gary raise his Key Stone. "He's Mega Evolved, so watch the Earthquake." Even at one and a half super effectiveness, it would hurt at close range.

Cenomons nodded, and then sank into the earth with Dig. Gary's voice echoed as his Tyranitar finished mega evolving. "Again! Earthquake!"

Buried as he was, Cenomons had been expecting the attack. He stayed perfectly still as the World Stadium once again had its foundations tested. As silence followed the quake, Gary looked for signs of their opponent. Their only warning was a brief shimmer in the ground beside them, before the Cenomons erupted from the ground wreathed in a shroud of ground energy. His titanic frame smashed into the Mega Tyranitar, and brown energy shifted to orange as he started using every fighting move he had access to.

Alex called the move, even as he heard Ceno hammering away. "Brick Break!"

The Mega Tyranitar went sailing out of the cloud of dust and pain as Cenomons landed his final strike. The crowd winced and ooed as the Mega Pokémon rolled awkwardly and painfully across the field. Mega Tyranitar's shape wasn't made for rolling, so it was more like a painful flop that saw his back and tail spines buried in the ground once he landed. Snorting hot air, Cenomons pawed the ground once, rumbling the stadium as he charged his opponent. Alex spoke the next order with finality. "Ultimate Impact!"

A shroud of fighting energy radiated around Cenomons this time, and Mr. Parsons chimed in with a mix of excitement, and dread. "It- It seems like the Emperor's Aggron has managed to create a Fighting Typed version of Giga Impact, folks! With quadruple effectiveness and a Hyper Beam level of power…this would spell the end for Professor Oak's armored tyrant!"

"Rock side to side!" Gary shouted, as Cenomon's slow speed now worked against him, on a field this large. "Fire Blast! Get out of there!"

Unfortunately, rocking side to side, while useful for turtles, did not help the spiny Mega Tyranitar. Truly, the only thing that could stop the armored tyrant dragon was not being upright. As long as it was standing, Mega Tyranitar was all but unmatched. Furious at his predicament, the Tyranitar roared, managing to aim a Fire Blast at Cenomons, the force of which propelled it through the dirt slightly. Gary perked up, seeing a chance. "Flamethrower! FULL POWER!"

Cenomons was closing in, however. He smashed through the Fire Blast, dissipating the five pointed flame attack with the unstoppable momentum and power of a freight train. Mega Tyranitar kept the flames going, pouring everything it had into Flamethrower…right up until the Ultimate Impact connected. The Tyranitar went soaring through the air once again, comically spinning and spewing flames as he spun through the air. Then, recovering with some effort and some expelling of gas, he righted himself, and cushioned the fall with the last vestiges of his power for Flamethrower as a move. Alex nodded slightly, noting that apparently Tyranitar still possessed some of the gas that kept their Pupitar form aloft, usually.

Cenomons was trotting now, but Alex raised a hand for him to stop. The steaming steel triceratops did so, staring down the panting Mega Tyranitar. Silence reigned for several moments, as both Pokémon recovered their breath. The next moves were called simultaneously.

Cenomons seemed to grin, and simply tanked the Hyper Beam by lowering his massive steely frill. The steel parts of his body entrenched themself in the field as the Hyper Beam arced across the field in an instant, hammering Cenomons with impressive accuracy. The Mega Aggron's body glowed red from the impact and steam rose into the air, but Cenomons was otherwise unblemished. Panting hard, having given his all, the Tyranitar rumbled an acknowledgement of Cenomon's strength, as the Mega Aggron countered with a steel-infused roar. Metal Burst's power was dependent on its victim's attack power, and there were few Pokémon that could claim to have the power to rival a Mega Tyranitar's attack stat. The Mega Form shattered as the sound waves washed over it, and Tyranitar fell forward, fainted.

The crowd was silent for a beat, and then roared in approval. Cenomons reared up onto his hind legs, and roared back at them, a declaration of his power and dominance to every Pokémon watching, and the cheers just grew louder. Gary recalled his partner, and pocketed him. He knew he had to use everything, right now, and the only member of his team that had any chance against a Mega Aggron, was his starter.

"Charizard! I choose you!"

The crowd erupted in cheers, but Gary had a look of disbelief, as the Mega Aggron smirked at him, dropped his Mega Form, and was then recalled by Alex.

Rodger Parson's voice cut through the crowd's excitement at seeing another Charizard. "Oh! Another switch by Redwood! Will we see a Charizard on Charizard brawl next!?" Alex looked over at Parson's booth, smirked, winked, then shook his head. The elderly announcer chuckled. "It seems not! Not today, anyway…"

Alex's voice cut through everything, as he spoke next. "We have, and will, see Charizard brawls in this Tournament…but this match deserves a Starter facing down a Starter! SAUR! You're up!" He pointed forward, and Saur's Pokéball sailed onto the field. The crowd went wild. A starter versus a starter was one thing, but now Alex was purposefully taking the type disadvantage, like Kukui, and using a Venusaur against a Charizard, like Kukui. The attending Venusaur fans were ecstatic to potentially see their favorite win against the much more renowned and popular Kanto starter twice in one day. "And!" Alex continued, "To keep from boring our fans…let's change things up a little. Saur!" The Venusaur's eyes shifted back to him. "We're not Mega Evolving this time."

A knowing smirk grew on the leafy dinosaur's face, and he faced down Gary's Charizard, stomping confidently, as he readied himself and started extending as many vines as he could. Gary paused in raising his Key Stone, as Lance had, but a growl from his very eager Charizard brought him back to reality. He shook his head. "Sorry bud, but we're using this instead." He tossed his partner a Flame Plate shard, and then raised his Key Stone. His Charizard didn't seem to care, and ascended to his Mega Form anyway. Alex had no doubt Gary had trained him using both Mega Forms. Any Charizard Trainer worth their balls would. And yet he smirked.

Gary's theme music started playing on the stadium's speakers as his Charizard ascended, and Alex's smirk widened. It wasn't his, but it was a jam. He brought out his Tera Orb then, and saw Gary facepalm. He didn't hesitate though. "End this in one Move! BLAST BURN!"

Alex nodded, as the Mega Charizard punched the ground, and sent a wave of volcanic flame their way. "Earth Power. Dilute it." Saur roared, and eruptions of ground energy exploded in the path of the Blast Burn, repeatedly, and thanks to the size of the field there was more than enough time to turn the mighty fiery Hyper Beam into a hot but still damaging breeze. Alex threw the Tera Orb before it reached them. "Now! Embrace the earth!"

A shell of crystal appeared over Saur then, a brief image of a columned building surrounded by stones appeared above him, like the Infinity Energy symbol did for Mega Forms, before sinking into his body and empowering the crystal with rock typed energy. The shield became bulkier, sturdier looking, and brownish in color. Even with the shift in type, Alex estimated Saur's health at just above half, and a Charizard's move pool could easily handle rock types. Alex didn't hesitate. The moment Terastal Form took hold, he shouted, "Rock Throw!"

The multitude of vines Saur had deployed sank into the field, and began hurling chunks of stone at Gary's Mega Charizard. While not typically one of Venusaur's moves, Alex had taught it to him specifically to help with his natural Tera Rock typing. They had three rock moves in total for Saur, two of which were custom, and only usable thanks to his powerful vines. The Mega Charizard managed to dodge five of them, before one finally hit him thanks to his exhaustion from Blast Burn, exploding in a Tera powered burst of light, it knocked the him out of the air with the power of a quadruple weakness.

Gary grimaced. "Melt the rocks! Flare Blitz!" His Mega Charizard righted himself just before crashing into the ground, and then burned like a sun, hurtling towards Venusaur. They had exactly one chance to stop it, and Alex was just glad that Gary hadn't powered his partner's stats up beforehand. He was going hard on the offensive, probably trying to score a win. It made some sense. The only Trainer who'd ever been able to sweep his team was Red, and that was a point of pride for the Professor.

"Saur! Tera Blast!" Alex shouted, and the Venusaur responded immediately. He saw the Mega Charizard's eyes widen as Saur launched the special Tera attack that was as versatile as it was easy to learn. The Mega Charizard flared his wings, roaring as he launched his fire energy forward into Saur's attack, which did lessen it somewhat, but it simply wasn't enough. The Terastal powered rock energy smashed through the half-formed attack, and then hammered the Mega Charizard, at which point Alex followed up. "Now! Vine Wrecker!"

Grabbing as much rock and stone as he could, Saur lifted four vines, his current limit in his base form since it was quite heavy and taxing as moves went, and sent all four of them hammering into the Charizard. His Mega Form faded as the dust cleared, and the crowd erupted in cheers. Saur waved a vine at the crowd, as Gary recalled his starter. "You know…" His words came, amplified by the mic he'd been given, "I actually got two Pokémon from my Gramps, back in the day, for running an errand…Umbreon! Go!"

Alex nodded. Gary's entire team was close to him…but none more so than the black furred fox creature warped by the essence of darkness that appeared next. "Leech Seed. Cloud spread. Then Paralyze." Saur smirked at him, and then proceeded to shake his dino booty, before firing multiple Leech Seeds into the air. Gary called for a dodge with Quick Attack, but the Tailwind made the cloud of paralyzing spores hit Umbreon, just as the arcing seeds started landing. The shadow fox was hit hard, and by the time he looked across the field again, the Venusaur had dropped the Tera Shield, and was being recalled.

Umbreon winced, as the powerful, irritating grass attack leeched a significant amount of his vitality, and transferred it to…another Umbreon, standing across the field, silent and intense. Umbreon followed through on the ordered Quick Attack, but as he closed the sizable gap between himself and the other Umbreon, Alex spoke.

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Poison tipped spines of fur suddenly sprouted from the glaring Umbreon, Shadow, apparently, and both of them took damage, though as the poison took effect, Gary's Umbreon suffered more. Redwood spoke again. "Trailblaze, and Dig. Keep your distance."

Shadow didn't hesitate, as he sped across the ground with his practiced grass powered attack, smashed into the opposing Umbreon, and then backflipped away, diving into the ground like it was water and not a solid, standard Pokémon battlefield. "Screech! Then raise a Reflect Screen!" Gary ordered, and Umbreon's ungodly shriek both lowered Shadow's defenses, and helped the shadow fox pinpoint where he was. Not that it helped.

Enraged at the loud noise, with eyes wide, Shadow burst from the ground, curled into a ball, and then homed in on Umbreon while wreathed in ground typed energy, that smashed through his hastily raised psychic barriers. After smashing into Umbreon, Shadow used the momentum to leap into the air. "Alluring Voice!" Came Alex's order, and despite looking like he hated himself for using it, Shadow summoned his best attempt at an angelic voice.

Umbreon's ears flattened in distaste, and then, his world started swimming. He heard what he thought was an order for him, but instead, the opposing Umbreon had attacked him again, and his own attack only managed to hurt himself. Then, he realized, he was confused. "Umbreon!" His partner's voice snapped him back to a moment of clarity in his still wobbly vision. "Protecting Light!"

Knowing what that meant, and since it wasn't an attack it was easier to use, Umbreon summoned his own fairy power, as a fake fairy moon surrounded him with enough energy to form a Protect shield as well as restore his health and sanity. That peacefulness ended abruptly, as did the shield, when Alex shouted, "Body Slam!" Shadow once more rolled into his opponent, this time extending his fur for good measure. Umbreon went flying, and fell to the ground as the poison once again drained his health. He attacked without Gary's order, as Umbreon knew his Trainer had retrieved his ball. He wasn't done yet, though. A proper Alluring Voice fired from his mouth, smashing into Shadow.

"End it. Body Slam." Alex ordered, and this time, his Umbreon vanished in a blur of speed. Gary's Umbreon went flying, eyes bulging, as the powerful slam once more knocked him across the field, and Gary recalled his partner before the referee could examine him. This was the equivalent to forfeiting the round.

His next choice was without hesitation, though. "Nidoqueen! Go!" Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs ɴovelfire.net

Alex answered him with a smirk. "Calgar."

An ultramarine blue ball flew forward from Redwood's side, as Nidoqueen materialized before Gary. Her eyes widened in surprise, as a blue Nidoking appeared across from her. Calgar exhaled cold air as he prepared for ice moves, but Alex surprised him instead by taking the initiative and shouting, "Attract!"

Calgar slowly turned his head to look at his Trainer, and then faced the Nidoqueen, who was staring at him almost expectantly, after hearing his Trainer's command. He inhaled, straightened his posture, raised his horn proudly, placed his muscled arms on his hips, and then gave Nidoqueen a nod, as he rumbled, "Nid."

Gary ignored his attempt. "Ice Beam, Nidoqueen!" Despite the Attract landing, the older Nidoqueen just winked at Calgar, and then fired off a powerful, rather fast Ice Beam. Before Alex spoke, Calgar answered it with a Flamethrower, and two moves canceled out, resulting in the field being covered in…steam.

"Now Charm!" Alex ordered, a smirk growing on his face. He saw Calgar shudder internally, and then he pointed two clawed fingers at Nidoqueen, paired with another wink. "Good. Start forming your Ice Punches." Calgar breathed ice onto his fists, and started stomping across the field towards his 'infatuated' opponent.

Gary didn't hold back. "Embrace your Icy nature, and Terastalize!" He ordered, throwing his own Tera Orb. "Ice Beam!" As the image of a large snowflake sank into Nidoqueen's Tera Shield, it started radiating frost. And yet, despite her cold nature, her body was on fire. The Charm had only empowered the effects of Attract, and seeing the Tera shift, Alex called off the Ice Punches for his own Tera Orb usage. Having come in contact with Terapagos as it was now, pretty much all modern Tera Orbs no longer required recharging. An image of a giant axe sank into Calgar, with his Tera Shield radiating a metallic sheen as its edges hardened and shifted to a steely gray.

The crystallized blue tail shining with steel power smashed Nidoqueen out of her reverie, and sent her rolling across the field. "Blizzard!" Gary ordered, seeing his partner wasn't quite done yet. A cone of Tera powered ice shot from Nidoqueen's mouth, creating a powerful weather phenomenon in an instant.

"Calgar! You've practiced this. You understand the science. Now, FLASH CANNON!"

Trained by Archon himself, the Archaludon had taken quite a long time to help the young, impatient Nidoking master the move. It had taken mastering Iron Tail first, but after hitting one hundred, the Nidoking had finally been able to manipulate the energy well enough to manifest it in his mouth. Light erupted in the midst of the sudden snowstorm, which didn't do that much damage to the now steel typed Nidoking, and then the beam of concentrated light and steel energy cut through the snow and sleet with a flash.

Nidoqueen's Tera Shield was obliterated, as the Flash Cannon knocked her on her back, and out of consciousness. The crowd was on its feet with a roar, as another of Gary's Pokémon went down, and Alex, while slightly damaged, retained every one he'd sent out already. Five to zero, Gary grimaced, as he was halfway through his belt. All he needed though, was one win, and he could cut through the rest of Redwood's team.

Confident he could get something started, he threw his next ball. "Blastoise! Go!" He didn't waste a second as with his next breath he shouted, "Mega Evolve!"

Alex had naturally already withdrawn Calgar, and brought out a Blastoise of his own. As Gary's Mega Blastoise ascended, Blast nodded at Alex, and Alex recalled him…only for his ball to grew exponentially, before being tossed back onto the field. Blast grew gigantic, taller ever than the height of the World Stadium, and every single water cannon on his shell now focused on the much smaller Mega Blastoise below.

Mr. Parsons was enthused, to say the least. "They're not waiting this time ladies and gentleman! Both Trainers are going at full power from the word 'go'! But it looks like Redwood's is slightly faster!"

"Max Knuckle!" Came the order from Alex, and Blast responded, spinning faster than anything that massive should've been able to as he punched down at the Mega Blastoise. The crowd whooped, and then roared as the stadium shook, in a fun way, from the impact. A Flash Cannon was the response, but landing on Blast's shell, it did very little. Every cannon once again locked on, and Alex shouted, "Max Steelspike!"

Multitudes of silver beams of light hammered the Mega Blastoise, and an eruption of steel spikes further damaged it, but the tanky turtle was nowhere near done yet. "Hyper Beam, Tri-Cannon mode!" His Mega Blastoise crouched low, and Alex grimaced. There was only one counter, to this. Sure enough, as he'd expected, three Mukking Hyper Beams at once formed in the cannon turtle's barrels atop his back, and on his arms.

With a loud sigh, Blast tanked the attack on his last Dynamax powered move, and then suddenly shrank back down to normal size. He shook his head from the vertigo, and the not insignificant damage his opponent's other attacks had caused. "Blast! Focus!" Alex shouted, "Rapid Slam!"

Blast shook off the dazed state just in time to Rapid Spin out of the path of a powerful Flash Cannon. Having practiced long with Rapid Spin, Blast had learned to use it to quickly navigate the battlefield, and now the Max Moves were spent, as was his single power up for this round, it was time to use his skills. He aimed his jets, and used his Hydro Pump to fire his heavy shell into the Mega Blastoise with the force of a Body Slam. The damage was adding up for him too, and it was still anyone's round.

Gary saw victory, and reached for it. "Now, while he's close! Body Press!"

"Endure!" Alex ordered, just as Gary's defense-heavy turtle nearly won the round. But Blast held on with enough strength for one last move. "GIGA IMPACT!"

As quickly as his opponent had attack, Blast countered, aiming his cannons behind him as he used a Water Pulse to give him enough oomph for an attack that strong. The opposing Blastoise went rolling, and as the ref called the faint, Blast fell to one knee. Seeing the ref hover over him now, the victorious cannon turtle forced himself to his feet with a roar, and Alex recalled him before the exhaustion and single hit point remaining lost him the round.

Gary brought out his Scizor next, and before the audience had time to cool, yet another species on species match unfolded before their eyes. With both becoming Mega Scizor, the Trainers soon couldn't even tell how the battle was unfolding, such was their Pokémon's speed. They clashed several times, each speeding up with Agility or moves like Trailblaze, until the two Pokémon were a pair of loudly clanging crimson blurs.

Alex knew how it would end, though. In the wild, though it was exceedingly rare, with the popularity of Scyther leading to a rise in how many were seen in the wild, eventually, Scizor had started appearing too, usually from Trainers they'd outlived, or who had become too unruly, and were happiest surviving on their own. Sometimes, opposing rivals would end up in a lock as they tried out-pinching their enemy with their devastatingly powerful claws. Victory in those instances was determined by which Scizor had a stronger shell, and often, the loser died long before it ate enough metal to recover properly.

Alex had gone over which moves would actually have an effect though, and while Gary's Scizor kept trying to build up a Fury Cutter, Reaper had ruthlessly countered with Brick Break and Aerial Ace. Eventually, after five straight minutes of clashing at speeds the crowd could barely follow, Gary's Scizor started feeling the damage. A brutal Brick Break sent it skidding across the field, at which point Alex chimed in. "Tailwind! Then use Acrobatics."

Reaper rumbled an acknowledgement, finding his human's logic to be sound. As his opponent rose back to his pointy feet, the wind shifted in Reaper's favor, then, he was there, brutally smashing his opponent with Acrobatics. "Get some distance with Air Slash! Change up your Moves, Scizor!" Gary shouted, but it was too little too late.

"Finish this, Reaper." Alex ordered. "Brick Break, and then Bullet Punch until it's unconscious." Once more, Reaper rumbled a noise of affirmation, and in a six stage boosted blur of speed, carried out the assault. It was over as soon as Brick Break landed, and each consecutive Bullet Punch brought the Mega Scizor closer to fainting, with the final one being spun into by Reaper.

As the massive claw of his opponent, starting to steam from the heat he was generating with all those moves at once, slammed into Gary's Scizor he lost his Mega Form, and crashed into the field, fainted. Reaper was breathing heavily, an ominous, echoing sound from within his steel body, that even now was radiating steam and heat. He dropped the Mega Form, and bowed to the crowd, who ate it up.

Rodger Parsons chimed in, as both Trainers recalled their partners. "Folks, I don't say this lightly…but it looks like we might be seeing the first person other than Red to clean-sweep Gary Oak's team. Something not even Ash Ketchum has done, and Redwood hasn't used any strategy other than matching his opponent's species as closely as he can…it's a clever and effective ploy to show the entire world just how good he is. And here's their next picks!"

A pair of massive, sparking, black striped and yellow furred Pokémon appeared on the field almost simultaneously. Gary's Electivire actually seemed rather nice, going by his greeting, a big friendly wave at a fellow electric titan, before falling into a battle crouch. Fulguron just smirked, and bowed in response, closed fist to open palm, which set the crowd off with cheers. The smirk widened as the hyped Pokéfans made Fulguron's stats rise. He too fell into a battle crouch, though it was one more reminiscent of a martial artist, rather than the fast-footed boxer-like style that Gary's alpha sized Electivire had adopted. Once again, both Trainers opted for Mega Evolution, and once again, Gary's theme began playing. This was mostly because Alex hadn't had time, even with clones, to finish making it.

It also relied on Tao being free, and "in the right Mood" to "create", and thus, every time Alex had tried to finish it, Tao kept him busy setting up the room just right, which took so long to gather the materials and do properly, that Alex had been pulled away from finishing or joining him both times the ancient dragon had finally 'found his groove'. Thus, he had no theme music. Yet.

Rain clouds formed over the stadium, as the two immensely powerful sources of electricity summoned rain without much effort. Previously invisible energy barriers flared to life over the crowd, keeping their view of things unobscured. Each Mega Electivire now had electrical sockets on the back of their hands, and thighs, and just under the bulbous horns on their shaggy heads. Six wire tails waved behind each electric sasquatch, three per side. The crowd had quieted, as neither Pokémon made a move. Thunder boomed above them, as lightning crackled through the clouds, but still, neither one moved.

Then, with a blinding flash, twin bolts of lightning struck both Electivire. Their Trainers orders followed immediately after, as both of their Motor Drives revved into full gear. The crowd ate up every second, screaming with hype.

Fulguron brought both of his arms down on the field with a dark smirk, and the entire thing shattered perfectly within the bounds of the field. Gary's Mega Electivire stumbled in shock, and groaned as the super effective and clearly well-practiced move hammered him. Alex capitalized on that. "Electric Terrain!"

Fulguron raised both arms, and bolts of electric energy surged into the ruined field. Then, the stones began levitating. The opposing electric sasquatch seemed fine, empowered by the terrain as Fulguron was, but the now ominously floating rocks filling the air were mildly concerning. It was not entirely magnetism keeping them alot, though there were some conductive elements in the stone of the field, lines of pure electric power connected them, and every single one was controlled by the Pokémon who had created them.

"Reflect Screen! And Shockwave!" Gary ordered, seeing the manipulation for what it was.

The psychic barrier shields formed into place before the Mega Electivire, and then a wave of his electricity surged out into the field, and the stones. He tried to take control of them, and Fulguron smirked in sync with his Trainer. They should've just destroyed the rocks. That would have stopped the next attack. Fulguron's control was firmly embedded in the floating stones, and Gary's Electivire widened his eyes as he realized he was being outmatched in terms of power. The two Electivire weren't far in terms of level, but Fulguron had trained relentlessly to close that gap, and master his moves.

"Bring the house down, Fulguron. ELECTRO METEOR!"

The massive swell of shattered stone had risen and spread as wide and tall as the stadium, and with that command, Fulguron brought every single piece of it hammering down onto his opponent. The opposing Mega Electivire tried firing off a sweeping Charge Beam at the boulders, but it was too little too late. The seemingly endless tide of earth and stone smashed through his barriers, and then after several moments, his Mega Form.

Gary's mouth was hanging open, as was most of the crowd, but if there was one thing the people loved, it was giant, flashy, overpowered moves on a stadium scale. It was why Dynamaxing had caught on so fast, once the science had been safely perfected. Gary just chuckled after a moment, and returned his partner to his ball. Both Fulguron and Alex tensed, as they sensed the power of what was next. Gary had always saved Hatterene for last in the footage Alex had set a clone on watch duty for, which meant his Ace was next. His Charizard was iconic, his Blastoise, Champion tier, but it was his Alakazam, trained by Samuel Oak's own Alakazam, who was by far his best battler. It was also the reason nobody else had been able to sweep Gary.

The Professor had once confided in Alex, during their Swamp training, that he didn't like using Alakazam. Psychic powers made physical contests, which battles often were, ridiculously unfair for those who couldn't counter overwhelming psychic force. It went deeper than that, though, as Gary's Alakazam had faced down Mewtwo, at the height of its power under an ascendant Giovanni, and lived. Experiencing that potential had allowed the genius psychic to reach it himself, more or less, much the way Alex and others had, by opening the pools of latent energy within his body. Psi had, of course, done this as well. In fact, most of his energy pools had been unblocked, largely thanks to how young and reclusive his life had been. As an Abra, he'd slept. As a Kadabra, he'd learned, and as an Alakazam, he had sifted through the majority of the sum of all human knowledge that was the Pokénet.

As Gary brought out his Alakazam, Fulguron glanced back at his Trainer. Thanks to his reclusive attitude, Psi didn't really have the full trust of the team yet. Many saw him as lazy, more interested in knowledge than battle, but Alex knew better. He also knew that those who had battled already did want to sweep Gary, and they didn't want Psi ruining their streak. He was firm on this though, and nodded at Fulguron, as he sighed, dropped his Mega Form, and was recalled.

The two Trainers threw out their Alakazam simultaneously, and another barrier appeared around the field, as the rain continued to fall. Psi took in the condition of the field, and the weather, as he appeared. Fulguron had managed to mostly piece it back together, but some spots were unstable. It made some sense, he wasn't a ground type after all. Breaking the earth was one thing, putting it back together was much more difficult. Then, Psi looked at his opponent, and his brows furrowed. The older Alakazam was asleep.

Without glancing at Alex, he ascended to his Mega Form, and as the surge of his immense psychic power surged across the field, it got the attention of Gary's Pokémon. Psi's eyes narrowed. In terms of level, he was exactly one above his opponent, but for an Alakazam, lived experience was much more important that level. A smirk formed under the long mustache of Gary's partner, and he made mental contact with Psi.

"You are powerful, young one…but not strong enough to win this Battle. Concede. It will save both of us valuable time."

Psi's eyes narrowed, as he answered in kind, and despite the call from the referee to begin, neither Pokémon made a move. "I'm more than strong enough for the likes of you…" Honestly, much like with Professor Redwood the elder, he'd been expecting…more. He wondered if his expectations were just too high, but his musing was interrupted as Gary's Alakazam ascended to his own Mega Form. He wasn't done speaking yet, either.

"Behold the aura of one who faced down Mewtwo, and survived!" A wave of psychic power surged across the field, and with a smirk of his own, Psi stopped it half way. The Mega Alakazam's eyes narrowed, and then widened, as he realized the quality of Psi's own power.

"You faced a Mewtwo once…and it did make you powerful…" He answered, surrounding his body in a perfected Aura Shield as Alex ordered a Reflect Screen. "But I spar with a newer, more powerful Mewtwo than Giovanni's, and I do so regularly." His eyes burned to life with psychic power. "Concede. I too don't wish to waste time."

Gary shouted, "Alakazam! Use Shadow Ball!" Apparently done with talking, the Mega Alakazam summoned five Shadow Balls, one above each spoon, and Psi readied five balls of condensed, masterfully woven Energy Balls. Being what he was, he'd been able to copy, or more accurately, Trace, the moves of his teammates, which was about the extent of interaction he had with them, aside from meal time.

The incredibly dense grass energy smashed into each Shadow Ball, and the ghostly nature of the attack was all too eager to drain the grass energy of vitality. Or try to. The result, was both attacks fizzling out. "Save your Ghost Energy." Alex murmured. "Use the energy around you to counter!" He ordered, and while vague, that kind of command was allowed. Psi already knew what to do, and what his Trainer meant. His wise eyes glanced at the Electrified Terrain, and guiding the electric energy, one of the types his kind could control pretty well, he ordered it to rise in a wave of paralysing electric force directly under his opponent.

Gary's Mega Alakazam widened his eyes, and though he Teleported away, the electricity moved just as fast as he could. The Paralysis took effect, and the Mega Pokémon closed his eyes. Psi sensed him summon an Aura Shield from within his body, and then expand it outwards, shattering the Paralysis effect and removing it, but in that time, Psi had focused on summoning the remaining electric energy. "Shadow Ball! Make it huge!" Gary ordered, and Psi smirked.

"Take care of it." Alex said again, quietly, yet as always, easily heard. Psi raised a single arm as his opponent's giant sized attack hurtled towards him, expanding to become even bigger, enough to rival a Dynamaxed Pokémon, as it crossed the field. His five spoons rotated around his outstretched arm, and the gathered electricity from Fulguron sparked between them. The Charge Beam came out more like Thunder, such was the quality and volume of what Fulguron had charged the field with, and Psi made good use of it. The electric attack pierced the ghostly orb with a thunderous boom, the source of the move's name, and despite being lessened in power, it still struck Psi's opponent before he could Teleport away. Few things moved faster than a Mega Alakazam, but lightning was one of them. "Psychic Clones." Alex ordered next.

Suddenly, their side of the field was host to multiple convincing copies of Psi, and Gary's Mega Alakazam looked around between them, not appearing to be able to tell which was which. "Destroy them all!" Gary ordered. "Hyper Beams!" The Mega Alakazam glanced at his Trainer, but followed his logic. Not even Psi could dodge five at once, though it would leave him drained. Each of his spoons glowed orange with intense energy, as the Mega Pokémon focused his awesome psychic power to do as commanded.

"Teleport." Alex said simply, but confidently, and as the Hyper Beams fired, the speed and psychic foresight of Alakazam's line helped Psi dodge every single beam as they swept through the majority of his clones. As the dust cleared, Gary swore, realizing they had not hit.

He also saw where Psi was, but the counter was Alex's. "Psi! Shadow Rain!"

Floating high above his opponent, now panting hard from launching five Hyper Beams at once, Psi gestured, spreading out his psychic spoons, as the air around and above him filled with Shadow Balls. Then, with a glance, he brought them down, and much like Fulguron before him, they hammered his target with brutal effectiveness and accuracy.

Gary's Mega Alakazam wasn't quite done yet, though. Having managed to raise a Reflect Screen in time, the damage was mitigated, and he'd managed to use Recover as well, to speed up the recovery from using Hyper Beam five times at once. "Time to drain its health." Gary ordered. "Hypnosis!"

Psi readied a counter, but then paused, as Alex spoke to him in his mind. A smirk appeared on his face, and he let the Hypnotizing power wash over him. "Psycho Shift!" Alex called, and before he could so much as blink, their opponent was suddenly the one asleep, and the counter was theirs. "Dream Eater! And if that doesn't finish it…Shadow Ball."

A psychic jaw reached effortlessly across the field to chomp into the sleeping Mega Alakazam, and munch on the pink mist that was his dream. He was hunched over, sitting on the ground, after that and Psi finished him off with a fast, small Shadow Ball that knocked his opponent on his back, and broke his Mega Form.

The ref called the KO. "Professor Oak's Alakazam is unable to Battle! Champion Redwood's Alakazam is the winner!" The crowd roared in response, and their ref flew back to his post on his Aegislash. "Both Challengers, summon your final Pokémon!"

Gary looked at his last ball for a long time, as Alex readied his own. Revan was already burning his palm with anticipation. Gary's Hatterene appeared on the field, and shuddered from the sheer amount of minds present. Thankfully, most were in a good mood, but there were always outliers. Those who received bad news while attending, or those minorly inconvenienced by another spectator. Either way, it was the complete opposite to her kind's natural environment, and the response to all that noise, was ingrained. As Revan appeared on the field, the singular target and allowed outlet for her rising frustration, the fairy witch's expression shifted to pure rage, as her eyes narrowed and veins bulged on her forehead.

Gary had seemingly not noticed the shift in his partner yet. He was too distracted, as the Ceruledge appeared in a kneeling position. Psychically, Alex asked one of the Rotom to zoom in on the blacksmith's seal marking the armor, and the Drone Rotom was all too eager to oblige. "That's one heck of a Ceruledge…custom armor…I mean it's not entirely original, but-" His words cut off, as Revan lifted his visor from facing the ground, and Gary just devolved into genuine laughter as, being something of a nerd himself, he recognized the T visor immediately. It wasn't a one-to-one replica, but the homage was as obvious as the Ceruledge's name, for those who understood. "Now that…that is cool."

Revan's swords extended to full length with an audible hum, though it was hard to hear above the crowd, many of whom also seemed to be fans of the Star Wars and Pokémon Wars series. Gary chuckled again, as one burned more purple, while the other was a deep crimson, though the colors were blended by his wrist and hilt. As expected, the Hatterene was in a foul mood, and once Gary noticed, or deemed it inconvenient, the switch would come. With hitting the highest level, came a shift in Revan's ability, thanks entirely to his armor. His Flash Fire now powered up the boosters in his legs as well, which increased his speed too.

He let out a burst of several Embers, and then Flame Charged through them as Alex called the move. He did not strike, though. He instead began zipping in a large circle around the Hatterene, building his speed. Gary called for a Misty Terrain, and once the field was suitably pink, sparkly, and obscured, the Shadow Balls started flying. Revan continued building his speed, and Alex called for a Sunny Day as well. Night Slashing through the Shadow Balls and Claws, Revan reached his top speed quickly, and then shifted strategies, zipping in and out of the Spirit World with Phantom Force. Even with psychic powers and the mist, the burning armored ghost was almost impossible to hit.

Gary was not easily deterred, though. "Hatterene! Gravity!" Still furious, perhaps even more so thanks to Revan's dodging, the fairy witch complied eagerly, and quickly. The sudden increase in gravitational force on the field slowed Revan, to about the equivalent of a twice boosted speed stat. Within Misty Terrain, and against this Hatterene, that made him as good as a sitting Ducklett. He slashed through one Shadow Ball, but Hatterene wasn't holding back now. Finally, Revan was forced to break away with Phantom Force, and in the Spirit World, he was still absurdly fast. The next ghostly slash struck her critically, but Hatterene held on, for her Gary. She looked back at him through the mist, and nodded in understanding, as he reluctantly said, "Healing Wish!"

While Blastoise might've been the logical choice, Hatterene instead chose Tyranitar. He was powerful, irritated at his humiliating performance from earlier, and had enough rock mastery to smash a Ceruledge. Intense pink light surrounded Hatterene, leaving her body fainted, as it surged into Tyranitar's ball. Her ball automatically recalled her, and summoned Tyranitar, and the crowd went wild. Gary didn't hesitate either. "We won't be swept so easily! Tyranitar! Primeval Stone Edge!"

As it Mega Evolved, Gary's Tyranitar struck, filling the field with massive rising stones in what was an obvious last ditch attempt to score a KO. Alex had plenty of counters for Tyranitar, but he did not recall Revan with Ally Switch. Instead, he shouted, "Solar Blade! Then finish it with Scared Sword!" Thanks to the Sunny Day still shining above them, Solar Blade was ready instantly, and despite the power of a mastered Stone Edge, Solar Blade was simply stronger, in terms of attack power, and type advantage. Revan was a shining green blur as he sliced through the field of rising stone, and he had to burn a lot of fire energy to compensate for the lingering Gravity.

The entire field split apart in a clean strike, and Mega Tyranitar stumbled, as Revan flashed behind him, and the Solar Blade faded. His swords started glowing another color then, a deep orange. Gary called for a Foul Play, but Sacred Sword, honed with Brick Break and perfected by Arthur, was hard to beat. The first slash, Mega Tyranitar dodged, hammering Revan with the dark type move, but the second sword struck the Mega Form's weak point, the crimson part of its torso. The ghostly blade ignored the famously impenetrable armor, and struck the Tyranitar at his core which, after the Solar Blade, shattered its Mega Form, and sent it into unconsciousness.

Revan stumbled back from the Tyranitar as it collapsed, stumbled slightly, but burned the last of his fire energy to keep himself upright, one sword raised in victory. The officiating human called the match, and Revan collapsed to one knee, his flames all but out. Alex recalled him, and started walking across the ruined field. "Well done, bud. I'm just impressed. With all of you. Our training paid off."

He met Gary in the center of the field, and the two clasped each other by the arm. The Professor spoke first. "You really have come far. I know when I'm out-classed." He leaned in close, then. "Do me a favor…and knock Ash off his pedestal. Maybe then he'll visit his mom more often." Before Alex could respond, Gary lifted his arm up and turned to the crowd, who cheered. Alex kept his smirk visible, thanked the Professor again, and then the two walked back to their sides of the field, and out through their side's exit tunnel.

Alex had his clones continue preparing the students he'd taken under his wing, largely by training their teams. Jade Drachenfel and Adrie had the most potential, both having already unlocked their chakras, and acquired plasma swords. He spent the night with Jess, who was preparing for a World Tournament match and a World Festival performance the next day. She'd be battling first, too and with a smaller roster than his. He did manage to give her one more partner though, a rather long female Dratini, who he traded in exchange for the hot pink but male Dratini she'd found and caught.

He dubbed the smol pink boi Firnen, and since he was rather young, held off on training, at least for the moment. The small dragon noodles had dinner with them, and then joined their teams in time for anime binging and falling asleep. Alex didn't bother looking at the media, but Psi informed him that his strategy, while bold, had largely been received positively by his fans, and Trainers in general.

A depressingly large number of people were just shocked that he'd managed to sweep Gary's team, but those who had followed him were not surprised. Now having two days to recoup, prepare his students for their first mission, and watch matches that he wouldn't be in, Alex finally planted his prime self on the Enterprise. His 'perfect self' would remain on the planet, to keep the clones he had doing things intact, while his prime body would head for Mars, to figure out what was keeping their solar system's planets aligned, and ending it, so Jimen could safely leave Ozai and Vaatu trapped in the Spirit World. As he bamfed onto the flagship of the Dragon Empire, he smirked, as he saw their chosen Captain, and their Head Science Officer were already on the bridge.

"Professor Friede." He nodded in greeting. "Captain Pikachu. I take it we're ready?"

The middle aged Professor nodded eagerly at him. "All systems are green. We're ready when you are."

Alex nodded again. "Has our Flagship Rotom chosen their name yet?"

Captain Pikachu sighed, and Friede shook his head. "They're insisting that we just refer to them as 'Computer', when we need something, but otherwise, they're ready to go."

"Alright then." Alex muttered. "Computer." The ship's deck beeped in acknowledgement. "Project my next words across the ship."

While normally capable of this, the Enterprise, like its shameless namesakes, had been made to act as essentially a floating colony of humanity, self-sustaining, infinitely powered, and manned by a crew that was as capable of strategy as they were with scientific discovery and analysis.

"Attention Enterprise crew. Prepare for the launch of our first official mission. Our destination…is Mars, and peaceful contact with the Humans we believe dwell there. Under no circumstance are we to engage in hostility with the Martians. If attacked we will engage defenses, and attempt to communicate. Prepare yourselves, as we leave the atmosphere." He turned to the highly recommended Pikachu that had been made their Captain, and nodded. "Take us up, Captain Pikachu."

Standing atop the human-sized Captain's chair, the Pikachu spoke, his Pokéspeech translated by the first iteration of the Dragon Empire's attempt at a Pokémon Translator. "Take us up, Ensign. Sublight engines, until we clear the Earth, and the debris around it!"

Alex watched quietly from beside the Captain's chair, arms crossed, and smirking as the blue sky of their home world shifted to the eternal black void that was known as space, and the few pinpricks of light that lit it up.